I had my first streetcar sighting this week (!) I had to drive few blocks afterwards to get another look up close, pretty neat, especially having followed progress and living downtown with the construction.

So will this be through a specific app? I didn't see anything mentioned in the article.

Looks like the app is Token Transit and you can start buying passes now. But don't buy yet!! The first three weeks are free, correct?
My friend just did.

Yes, Token Transit is the app. I was a beta user for bus passes. Works great.

Well so far I have been very disappointed in the communication and organization of the streetcar management. I did win one of the 'golden tickets' and the ride for Saturday was cancelled due to weather, although I didn't receive an email regarding that until 5:50 Friday night and the weather was fine. As of 3:30 today still no communication. I reached out again, thru Facebook as the only contact I could find, and they say they will send an email with info tonight. The street car opens Friday so clearly there is no early ride. It seems unethical to hold a contest where you must shop and buy something for a chance to win, then win and there is no prize and no communication. Very disappointed in something that I was so excited about.

Um. Weren't the candy bars free?

From the streetcar website: "EMBARK will direct the general public to pick up a free OKC Streetcar chocolate bar in any of its Love the Loops Partner locations starting on Small Business Saturday, November 24." Fair enough re: poor communication (though it seems like the Streetcar folks stated when information would be provided), but I thought this was more of a free promotion (I got candy bars at Lights on Broadway for free without a purchase) than a for-purchase contest. Seems a little harsh to call people unethical for a free promotion who were dealt a bad hand with weather and are probably a lot more focused on the streetcar's actual opening (where rides will be free for everyone anyway).

Well so far I have been very disappointed in the communication and organization of the streetcar management. I did win one of the 'golden tickets' and the ride for Saturday was cancelled due to weather, although I didn't receive an email regarding that until 5:50 Friday night and the weather was fine. As of 3:30 today still no communication. I reached out again, thru Facebook as the only contact I could find, and they say they will send an email with info tonight. The street car opens Friday so clearly there is no early ride. It seems unethical to hold a contest where you must shop and buy something for a chance to win, then win and there is no prize and no communication. Very disappointed in something that I was so excited about.

Sounds like you should be mad at the weathermen who were predicting a terrible winter storm.

On December 5, They had a post on Facebook announcing the cancellation due to the weather

Kind of a random issue, but I saw on Twitter them advertising a Google-based map of the system on their website. I kept googling "OKC streetcar" and couldn't find it and thought I was going crazy. Turns out www.okcstreetcar.com doesn't come up at all in the first page of Google results, it's only the okc.gov page and the EMBARK pages about the project. I have no idea how to fix that, but I'd hope they're able to make it appear in the search results...

Kind of a random issue, but I saw on Twitter them advertising a Google-based map of the system on their website. I kept googling "OKC streetcar" and couldn't find it and thought I was going crazy. Turns out www.okcstreetcar.com doesn't come up at all in the first page of Google results, it's only the okc.gov page and the EMBARK pages about the project. I have no idea how to fix that, but I'd hope they're able to make it appear in the search results...

Could they be referencing that if you are in the area and are navigating by Google maps and choose public transportation option it will direct you to street car stop? I could be totally off .. but was curious if that is updated on Google maps for that purpose.

Kind of a random issue, but I saw on Twitter them advertising a Google-based map of the system on their website. I kept googling "OKC streetcar" and couldn't find it and thought I was going crazy. Turns out www.okcstreetcar.com doesn't come up at all in the first page of Google results, it's only the okc.gov page and the EMBARK pages about the project. I have no idea how to fix that, but I'd hope they're able to make it appear in the search results...

They didn't get that site up early enough for SEO to kick in, but I think it will quickly find its way to the top of search once the system is online!

Could they be referencing that if you are in the area and are navigating by Google maps and choose public transportation option it will direct you to street car stop? I could be totally off .. but was curious if that is updated on Google maps for that purpose.

They were referring to the map on www.okcstreetcar.com (and click on System Map) -- but I certainly hope it finds its way into the public transit option on Google Maps. I have to imagine it would.


They didn't get that site up early enough for SEO to kick in, but I think it will quickly find its way to the top of search once the system is online!

Interesting, thanks! Like I said, I don't know much about this sort of thing but would obviously deem it important to be easily searchable.

I was reading the FAQ on that site and it says all passengers must disembark at the “End of Loop” stops at the Park and Dewey. So if I board the train at the Arena stop, I must get off the train one stop down and boars again. I assume you will be charged for two trips? That’s kind of asinine. The whole point of a loop is that there is no “end of the line”. It’s a circle.

I was reading the FAQ on that site and it says all passengers must disembark at the “End of Loop” stops at the Park and Dewey. So if I board the train at the Arena stop, I must get off the train one stop down and boars again. I assume you will be charged for two trips? That’s kind of asinine. The whole point of a loop is that there is no “end of the line”. It’s a circle.

That does seem ridiculous. Hopefully that isn't the case...

I can't speak for OKC's streetcar and busses, but here in DFW you can use Google Maps to see where the A-Train, DART, and busses all are up the second. I can literally watch on Google Maps as my bus rolls up once I click on times for that bus. It's really pretty incredible.

Regarding "end of the line"... It's so they can kick people off if they need to (or make them show valid passes again). There's speculation on my part here obvs, but based on some observation as well. Most of the current bus routes are loops and 94% of the time nobody says anything when you get to the outbound/inbound demarcation point. But every now and then the bus driver goes through and tells everybody to re-swipe their passes. Feels like he's saying to certain people "I see you. I know you've been riding this loop all day."

Wouldn’t that be better served by the operator calling a transit officer to meet the train and kick the person off instead of charging everyone a double fare? I’m sure you could make it a city ordinance that streetcar use is for an hour only, anyone on board longer than an hour must get off.

Well so far I have been very disappointed in the communication and organization of the streetcar management. I did win one of the 'golden tickets' and the ride for Saturday was cancelled due to weather, although I didn't receive an email regarding that until 5:50 Friday night and the weather was fine. As of 3:30 today still no communication. I reached out again, thru Facebook as the only contact I could find, and they say they will send an email with info tonight. The street car opens Friday so clearly there is no early ride. It seems unethical to hold a contest where you must shop and buy something for a chance to win, then win and there is no prize and no communication. Very disappointed in something that I was so excited about.

Everyone with a golden ticket is going to get free street car pass that is good until the end of June (so 6 months ). You should have received your email today (if you followed the directions on the golden ticket and regestered by dec 5th)

OK, this one seemed obvious to me but maybe I'm missing something. We were in our car behind the streetcar as it stopped at the loading platform in front of OCU Law School. That stretch of Robinson is single-lane and the middle is striped with solid yellow no-passing lines. Not one, but two, people who came up behind me aggressively swerved around both our car and the streetcar.

I'm thinking if you're behind the streetcar in a scenario like that, you're supposed to wait. Was I mistaken? I looked on their website but couldn't find anything about that scenario.

OK, this one seemed obvious to me but maybe I'm missing something. We were in our car behind the streetcar as it stopped at the loading platform in front of OCU Law School. That stretch of Robinson is single-lane and the middle is striped with solid yellow no-passing lines. Not one, but two, people who came up behind me aggressively swerved around both our car and the streetcar.

I'm thinking if you're behind the streetcar in a scenario like that, you're supposed to wait. Was I mistaken? I looked on their website but couldn't find anything about that scenario.

Ya you are supposed to wait for sure.

Ya you are supposed to wait for sure.

Thanks. It's going to be interesting to see how people adapt to sharing the road. Hopefully there won't be any major catastrophes.

Wouldn’t that be better served by the operator calling a transit officer to meet the train and kick the person off instead of charging everyone a double fare? I’m sure you could make it a city ordinance that streetcar use is for an hour only, anyone on board longer than an hour must get off.

I don't think it's been established that they'll charge you a double fare.

I'm honestly wondering, unless the car is full, if someone is not being disruptive then why do they need to be kicked off the streetcar at the "end of the line"? Maybe the intent of the rule is to let riders know that the streetcar is full at that time and they need to choose a stop. Otherwise, I don't see a problem with someone staying on the streetcar.

I don't think it's been established that they'll charge you a double fare.

A single fare is good for a single boarding, so if you have to reboard your original fare is invalid. A day pass won’t matter, though.

A single fare is good for a single boarding, so if you have to reboard your original fare is invalid. A day pass won’t matter, though.

I know that's your assumption, but I don't think there's anything from the streetcar people that actually says this.

https://danceswithfat.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/jump-to-conclusions-mat.jpg

I know that's your assumption, but I don't think there's anything from the streetcar people that actually says this.

https://danceswithfat.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/jump-to-conclusions-mat.jpg

FAQ:

How much are fares and passes?
Single trip – $1 per boarding

Can I continuously ride the OKC Streetcar?
No. End-of-loop stops are located at Scissortail Park and Dewey. At these platforms, all passengers must exit the streetcar and reboard if needed.

Perhaps there should be some clarification.

I’ll ask for additional clarification. The statements don’t accurately depict what happens at those junctures.

In short, those statements in the real world apply to end-of-service... like 2am or if the operator needs to take a bathroom break and needs to leave the train for an extended period of time.

I don’t think that it is written very well. The $1 fare essentially gets you 2 hours of service. $3 for all day. Keep in mind that our operators are competent people and will communicate with the passengers.

Keep in mind that our operators are competent people and will communicate with the passengers.

So this will be different than the A-Train/DART in Dallas. lol.

Honestly, nothing against the workers on those lines, but when prices changed recently and I asked several workers about finding certain fares on the app, none said they'd ever seen the app before. It's how probably 50% of passengers pay for their rides. Wuuuuttttt?

I’ll ask for additional clarification. The statements don’t accurately depict what happens at those junctures.

In short, those statements in the real world apply to end-of-service... like 2am or if the operator needs to take a bathroom break and needs to leave the train for an extended period of time.

I don’t think that it is written very well. The $1 fare essentially gets you 2 hours of service. $3 for all day. Keep in mind that our operators are competent people and will communicate with the passengers.

Thanks. It just seems like a conflicting policy. I’m very excited for OKC for tomorrow (and sad I won’t see it in person on opening day). I want this system to work, and small annoyances such as having to reboard at those 2 stops will be a kink in what otherwise will be a very fine system.

Well it is written in a very “dry” way. It does give the wrong impression. Yeah we’ll miss you too! I am submitting a list of people that worked on the project as volunteers and you are on it!

Regarding the app, I saw advertisements being installed on the trains literally today by our workers. It explains how to download the Token Transit app.

I don't really blame them to have a policy like that. Otherwise, what keeps the homeless from using it as a cheap shelter. Its a tool the operators can keep in their back pocket in case they have to use it. I doubt the operator is going to kick someone off just to immediately board again if they have a legitimate destination.

The $1 fare essentially gets you 2 hours of service. $3 for all day. Keep in mind that our operators are competent people and will communicate with the passengers.
Can I reuse the ticket if still within the 2 hours? 2 hour window would make it more likely we would use for lunch instead of driving. Also, the annual fare didn't appear to have any savings over the monthly fare. Was this intentional? I would have thought the annual would be cheaper.

Can I reuse the ticket if still within the 2 hours? 2 hour window would make it more likely we would use for lunch instead of driving. Also, the annual fare didn't appear to have any savings over the monthly fare. Was this intentional? I would have thought the annual would be cheaper.

I am assuming with all the talk of equity between buses and the streetcar, they are putting your average public transit rider in mind and thinking that many of them probably can’t afford a yearly payment. many bus riders have to pay day by day, or monthly. Therefore, any additional savings on a yearly basis would only be had by those who can afford the upfront costs and not your typical public transit rider. It’s probably for all the same reasons they don’t want to make the streetcar free, while still charging for buses, or choosing not to run the streetcar on Sundays when buses weren’t getting Sunday service yet.

It’s not a good look to promote the streetcar in ways that only benefit a smaller segment of our community and not the actual people that depend on our public transit to thrive in our city.

Apologies if this has been answered already but are pets allowed on the streetcar?

Per the FAQ that they had released, only service animals are allowed on the streetcar.

Disappointed everyone today; MIA because I was to meet with family at Bricktown IHOP. We were to all ride the streetcar, decided that today's historic rollout would be too cold, crowded & crazy. Sons here from Tulsa & Pampa, TX to celebrate the opening ceremonies.

Just decided to wait until Monday; told family who will join me that breakfast at IHOP will be on me--tab & tips.

Where is the best place to park & ride besides the Gaylord Branch Downtown YMCA Parking Garage.

Street car is open

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyqURy_wKeA
Streetcar rides are free today December 14 thru January 5 for the historic streetcar rollout.

https://www.oklahoman.com/hitting-the-rails-oklahoma-city-set-to-inaugurate-streetcar-service/article/5617688


After a rigorous safety review, two years of construction and six months of testing and training, the Oklahoma City Streetcar is set to announce, "All aboard."
...Transit officials prepared to accommodate 10,000 to 15,000 riders on opening day, based on averages in other cities, and up to 50,000 for the opening weekend.

Rides will be free the first three weeks.

Here's some photos from the ribbon cutting:

https://i.imgur.com/D0yVmsi.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/GYXNs8C.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ljZnFwk.jpg

Historic day! Congrats to OKC! Today is a monumental day in the continued progress of Oklahoma City.

Great pics Goldfire, Thanks for sharing...

Hey congrats guys!! Big day for a city that has had a ton of them the past two decades. This will only accelerate your urban growth.

I will need to get back down there and take a ride sometime soon, been a few years since I have seen OKC!

The golden chocolate bars really get you free service for 6 months?! That is super cool!

Big day, I will be riding the streetcar tonight and tomorrow, I expect big crowd Saturday as the weather looks solid for December.

The golden chocolate bars really get you free service for 6 months?! That is super cool!

Big day, I will be riding the streetcar tonight and tomorrow, I expect big crowd Saturday as the weather looks solid for December.

Only if you got one that had a "golden ticket" for a free early ride in it. The standard bars that didn't have a ticket are just a tasty treat and a neat trinket.

From City Place at this morning's dedication (photo from an attorney friend of mine).

Streetcars are now rolling and free through Jan. 5th.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/streetcar121418.jpg

Streetcars on the full loop are running at almost 100% of passenger capacity. We had to let one go by because it was too full to get on. I'm hearing that the Bricktown loop is emptier. And they are running SLOOOW. People that came down just to ride the full circuit were telling me they'd been on the streetcar for over an hour.

Streetcars on the full loop are running at almost 100% of passenger capacity. We had to let one go by because it was too full to get on. I'm hearing that the Bricktown loop is emptier. And they are running SLOOOW. People that came down just to ride the full circuit were telling me they'd been on the streetcar for over an hour.

Get those Vagrants off there!.. you cant just stay on there for hours for cheap shelter from the cold!!.. haha. well I guess that's a good stress test is them running FULL for a good while .

Rode it today. Very nice. Predict success!

So now that the streetcar is open looking for good places to eat in automobile alley or Midtown. Not top notice expensive something $10-$20 dinner price range? I heard nashbird is good. How far of a walk from streetcar and what else is out there?

Just rode it. Pretty cool, everybody on board was smiling and seemed to be enjoying it. It was moving pretty slow, I rode about half the trip and was there a full half hour. Of course, we were stopping at every stop to let people on and off.

A little of topic but, are there buses that travel from the Yukon / Mustang area to downtown OKC? Someone asked the question somewhere else and I could not locate that route. We have them for Edmond, Norman & MWC, so why not Mustang / Yukon?

I rode from the Dewey stop to the Downtown Business District to go file something this afternoon. Took about 20 minutes to get there. I hopped on at the Library stop to skip the Bricktown loop. Again, about 20 minutes back. It was very slow. If it stays this slow, I can't imagine using this when parking can be had for $2 near the courthouse and the trip down is ~5 minutes by car. I had to go a second time this afternoon and made the mistake of hopping back on at the Downtown Business District stop which took me through the Bricktown loop. I think that trip took me over an hour from when I left my office til when I got back. The Bricktown leg of things was unreasonably slow and it seemed like the driver stopped for several minutes just to talk to some rando.

I'm sure it's just opening day and all, but the utility of this thing is very much in question.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHpcBYyvKxg
OKC Streetcar Service Begins

I just took a ride to midtown and back for dinner and the whole ride was at 100% capacity, with lines at virtually every stop. We'll obviously need to see how it settles out once the newness wears off, but seems to be a nice start so far (I do agree that they need to speed it up as it did seem unreasonably slow at times).

https://i.imgur.com/N78FgD7.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/1u43PsU.jpg

I got on at the Law School stop, by my office...rode the entire loop. Took us 65 minutes to get back to the Law School. I had hoped it would be a great way to get to Bricktown for lunch from time to time...but if this is close to how it will run...then that is off the board. Because it will be almost an hour of riding time...then lunch. I know there are kinks to iron out...but I now wish it had been a two way, double track system. So you could go out and back without riding the whole loop.

I rode from the Dewey stop to the Downtown Business District to go file something this afternoon. Took about 20 minutes to get there. I hopped on at the Library stop to skip the Bricktown loop. Again, about 20 minutes back.. I had to It was very slow. If it stays this slow, I can't imagine using this when parking can be had for $2 near the courthouse and the trip down is ~5 minutes by cargo a second time this afternoon and made the mistake of hopping back on at the Downtown Business District stop which took me through the Bricktown loop. I think that trip took me over an hour from when I left my office til when I got back. The Bricktown leg of things was unreasonably slow and it seemed like the driver stopped for several minutes just to talk to some rando.

I'm sure it's just opening day and all, but the utility of this thing is very much in question.

This is a very astute observation. As currently implemented, the advantages of the SC could be lost, especially DT workers. The system could be enhanced by installation of a dedicated SC signaling system (where all wheeled vehicles are stopped). Just a off the head thought however, without some revision of the traffic engineering ridership could be impacted.

Relax people it's day one. Just wait until tomorrow for the Thunder Game it's probably going to be 100 times worse than it is now. It will level off once it's no longer free and the novelty wears off. You won't have 50 people getting off and 50 people trying to get on at every stop. It will be half that which will make things much quicker.

It’s super crowded so that’s slowing it down and the drivers are new. It’ll speed up.

I imagine they might be more cautious today as people may not be used to standing on transit. It would be horrible press for an injury to happen on opening day because they were operating at standard speed and someone wasn’t used to bracing while slowing or turning.

I imagine they might be more cautious today as people may not be used to standing on transit. It would be horrible press for an injury to happen on opening day because they were operating at standard speed and someone wasn’t used to bracing while slowing or turning.

Plus vehicle traffic not used to seeing the streetcar on the road.

Plus vehicle traffic not used to seeing the streetcar on the road.

Plenty of reasons to take it slow for the next couple days. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong but I believe the time trials while testing were about 35 mins round trip on the main loop, and about 15 mins on the B-line. I imagine after a few days travel times will dramatically improve.